Southwestern Mountaineers Patch

Here is something that you just don't see every day... a SWM patch. I had it on my Millet rucksack that I have had all these years. The club produced these in about 1968, with a very limited run. Back in those days there weren't very many of us. An indication of how many climbers there were who bought gear is the color taping that we did on our gear. We used colored electrical tape to wrap on our carabiners and pitons. My color was blue, and black, yellow, red and white were used by other climbers (Reed Cundiff, Bill Hackett, Mike Mcgoey, Mark Losleben, etc). Green tape was reserved for club gear, and when new climbers came along, they started using double colors. Interestingly, Dick Ingraham never used tape, for his gear was distinctive all on it's own.
Lee Davis